Thomas J. Zagenczyk

When distress hits home: the role of contextual factors and psychological distress in predicting employees' responses to abusive supervision.

We developed a model of the relationships among aggressive norms, abusive supervision, psychological distress, family undermining, and supervisor-directed deviance. We tested the model in 2 studies using multisource data: a 3-wave investigation of 184 full-time employees (Study 1) and a 2-wave investigation of 188 restaurant workers (Study 2). Results revealed that (a) abusive supervision mediated the relationship between aggressive norms and psychological distress, (b) psychological distress mediated the effects of abusive supervision on spouse undermining, (c) abusive supervision had a direct positive relationship with supervisor-directed deviance, (d) the positive relationship between psychological distress and spouse undermining was stronger for men as opposed to women, and (e) employees engaged in relationship-oriented occupations reported greater levels of abusive supervision and psychological distress. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Blaming the Organization for Abusive Supervision: The Roles of Perceived Organizational Support and Supervisor's Organizational Embodiment

Why do employees who experience abusive supervision retaliate against the organization? We apply organizational support theory to propose that employees hold the organization partly responsible for abusive supervision. Depending on the extent to which employees identify the supervisor with the organization (i.e., supervisors organizational embodiment), we expected abusive supervision to be associated with low perceived organizational support (POS) and consequently with retribution against the organization. Across 3 samples, we found that abusive supervision was associated with decreased POS as moderated by supervisors organizational embodiment. In turn, reduced POS was related to heightened counterproductive work behavior directed against the organization and lowered in-role and extra-role performance. These findings suggest that employees partly attribute abusive supervision to negative valuation by the organization and, consequently, behave negatively toward and withhold positive contributions to it.

Consequences of Workplace Bullying on Employee Identification and Satisfaction Among Australians and Singaporeans

This study responds to the call for cross-cultural investigations of workplace bullying by examining the relationship between workplace bullying and attitudes among employees from two countries. The authors argue that employees from societies that are less inclined to accept that power differences exist as a result of structure (low power distance countries, e.g., Australia) will respond to workplace bullying more negatively than will employees from cultures that accept that power differences exist as a result of structure (high power distance, e.g., Singapore). In all, 165 Singaporean and 152 Australian employees completed surveys designed to assess workplace bullying, workgroup identification, and job satisfaction. Results showed that workplace bullying was negatively related to both workgroup identification and job satisfaction among employees from both countries. Moreover, national culture influenced the relationship between bullying and job satisfaction and workgroup identification such that the negative relationships between bullying and these attitudinal outcomes were stronger for Australians than Singaporeans.

The Negative Aspects of Social Exchange: An Introduction to Perceived Organizational Obstruction

The authors introduce the concept of perceived organizational obstruction (POO) to fill a theoretical gap in the social exchange literature. They draw on four different samples of employees working in various organizations to: (a) generate items to measure POO, (b) assess the psychometric properties of the POO scale, (c) replicate the factor structure and other psychometric properties of the scale, (d) assess the discriminant validity with respect to existing measures of the employer—employee relationship, and (e) determine whether POO explains additional variance beyond existing constructs (perceived organizational support, psycholosgical contract breach, organizational politics, procedural justice, and organizational frustration) in the exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect framework. The results of this study indicate that the POO scale is internally consistent and unidimensional, demonstrates discriminant validity with respect to existing employer— employee relationship constructs, and explains additional variance in the exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect framework.

A Social Exchange-Based Model of the Antecedents of Workplace Exclusion

We conducted 2 studies of coworker dyads to test a theoretical model exploring why and under what circumstances employees are the targets of workplace exclusion. Adopting a victim precipitation perspective, we integrate belongingness and social exchange theories to propose that employees who display workplace incivility are distrusted and therefore are targets of workplace exclusion. Highlighting the importance of the context of the perpetrator-target relationship, we also find support for the postulation that this mediated relationship is strengthened when the target employee is perceived to be a weak exchange partner and is attenuated when he or she is viewed as a valuable exchange partner. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

If You Wrong Us, Shall We Not Revenge? Moderating Roles of Self-Control and Perceived Aggressive Work Culture in Predicting Responses to Psychological Contract Breach

The authors develop and test a moderated mediation model that accounts for employee emotions (psychological contract violation), employee motivation (revenge cognitions), employee personality (self-control), and context (perceived aggressive culture) in the relationship between psychological contract breach and workplace deviance. In Sample 1, involving 146 hospitality workers and their peers, the authors found support for a conditional indirect effect of psychological contract violation in predicting workplace deviance via revenge cognitions for those employees who perceive a high as opposed to low aggressive work culture. In addition, they found that at high levels of perceived aggressive work culture, the conditional indirect effects of psychological contract violation in predicting workplace deviance via revenge cognitions were statistically significant for those employees with low as opposed to high self-control. These results were replicated in Sample 2 using an independent sample of 168 hospitality workers in a different cultural context. Overall, the results suggest that self-control and perceived aggressive culture, taken together, influence the enactment of deviant acts. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Psychological Contracts as a Mediator between Machiavellianism and Employee Citizenship and Deviant Behaviors

Results from four studies in multiple contexts drawing on different data sources provide full support for the proposition that Machiavellian employees prefer forming transactional psychological contracts (schemas of their employee–employer relationship that are economic in nature) and that such contracts mediate the relationship between Machiavellianism and supervisor-rated (a) organizational citizenship behaviors and (b) deviant behaviors, respectively. The authors’ research contributes to scholars’ understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the relationship between Machiavellianism and contextual performance as well as to the psychological contracts literature by demonstrating that Machiavellianism influences contextual performance because it affects the manner in which employees construe their employment relationships.

The gendered nature of role model status: an empirical study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand better the gendered nature of role model status within organizations. The paper aims to argue that women require organizational legitimacy to be perceived as a role model, whereas men rely primarily on the strength of social ties within their friendship networks.Design/methodology/approach – An empirical study of admissions department employees at a large eastern university within the USA was conducted. Using a social network approach, participants were asked to identify advice, friendship and role model relationships and provide information about awards and recognition received from the organization.Findings – The results showed that, in order to be perceived as a role model, females needed to give (but not ask for) advice, earn organizational rewards, hold leadership positions in the organization, and maintain strong ties with other employees. Males only had to have a number of friendship or advice ties to be seen as a role model.Research limitations/...

Co-Worker Exclusion and Employee Outcomes: An Investigation of the Moderating Roles of Perceived Organizational and Social Support

When does social support alleviate or exacerbate the effects of being excluded by colleagues in the workplace? This study integrates belongingness and social support theories to predict and demonstrate the differential effects of work-related support (i.e., perceived organizational support; POS) and non-work-related support (i.e., family and social support; FSS) on employee reactions to co-worker exclusion. Consistent with our predictions, we found that employees reporting high levels of co-worker exclusion and high levels of perceived organizational support demonstrate higher levels of performance and increased levels of self-worth than those reporting low levels of POS. Alternatively, support from family or friends intensified the negative relationship between co-worker exclusion and self-esteem and the positive relationship between co-worker exclusion and job-induced tension. Unexpectedly, FSS did not influence the supervisor-rated task performance of excluded workers, nor did POS mitigate the relationship between co-worker exclusion and job-induced tension. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

Effects of the physical work environment on the creation of individual‐ and group‐level social capital

Purpose – The aim of this article is to examine how office designs influence social capital or the value inherent in relationships. More specifically, this article attempts to better understand the level to which the value of social capital accrues, either to the individual or to the group.Design/methodology/approach – The authors review theoretical and empirical research on the physical work environment and social capital to develop propositions that relate the effects of open office environments on the development of group‐ and individual‐level social capital.Findings – It is argued that an open‐office environment, defined as an office design that attempts to maximize functional communication among organization members by removing physical barriers that hinder the flow of work and communications, can positively affect the development of social capital within an organization. Specifically, it is suggested that open office designs will foster the development of group‐level social capital (i.e. social capi...